Failure to Communicate
by Emily Hoyt
Summary: What will Jack and Sue do when, after checking his jacket for his physical results he discovers they are listed as married!


"Sue, we need to talk," Jack whispered to her and pulled her from her desk out into the hallway. She stumbled a little over Levi as she told him to stay put, trying to keep up with Jack. He brought her to a conference room and closed the door over. "We've got a problem," he said carefully. "I had a routine exam done and I needed to check my results, so I went into my dossier. Under 'martial status', I'm listed as married." Sue's forehead creased briefly before it slid into a mild confusion. "I double checked your dossier. You're listed as married, too." Her eyes went wide and she nearly choked. "We're still considered married. We never officially divorced. I don't get it, but we need to go talk to Garret."

"Damn right, we do!" she said in mild surprise and outrage. Jack looked taken aback and she noticed it. "I do swear sometimes, when I'm extremely upset."

"No, that's not it… Is being married to me so horrible?"

"No! That's not it at all! I didn't mean… I mean… You know what I mean," she moaned helplessly.

"This time, I really don't," he said, feigning outrage, well enough that she turned bright red. With an internal smile, he maintained his expression and stared at her.

"It wasn't bad. It's just… Well, I need to clear this up. If I ever decide to settle down with… someone… I can't…"

The corners of his mouth drooped significantly as an image flit into his mind; their wedding picture pulled up in from of his eyes, only the face on the groom was not his. He did not know who it was, but it was not his and that hit him harder than any physical blow ever could. Suddenly, he felt sick and his stomach and heart both dropped to the floor. The hurt that filled him was so unexpected, he almost confused it for his heart condition.

"Jack, are you okay?" she asked quietly. He nodded his head and followed her to Garret's office.

"What can I do for you two? Undercover again?"

"No," Sue whispered. "Our problem today is because of the last time we were undercover together. Our files list us both as married, naming us as the other's spouse. Why wasn't it annulled?" she asked.

"I can't imagine. Let me check."

Garret typed for a few moments before looking up at them with confusion all over his face. "You're not listed as married."

"What?" they both cried, coming around his desk to check for themselves. Sure enough, both were listed as single. They looked at each other, back to the screen, then back at each other. Jack took off and returned a few second later with their respective files. He opened them up and, to everyone's confusion, read 'married' on both pages. Garret leaned back with a tiny grin on his face and watched them both as their faces seem to fall a little. He chuckled to himself and Jack spun on him immediately, Sue following.

"Forgive my insubordination, but what the hell is so funny?" he asked sharply. Garret grinned subtly.

"You both look kind of disappointed," he commented innocently. Jack's face fell neutral while Sue's took on a light pink hue. "I think, if you really want to figure this out, you should talk to your co-workers, people."

With matching looks of positive outrage, they stormed out of Garret's office, files in hand and frown etched deeply into their faces. Quietly, Garret got up and followed them, watching from the door of the bullpen as they went in yelling simultaneously.

"What is this about?"

"What are you trying to pull?"

"How did you know we'd even look in these damn files?"

"Why did you do it?"

"What was the point?"

Tara stood up timidly and looked at them. "In order: this is about the significance of today's date; we were just pulling a small prank; Bobby knew you had a physical the other day and you needed to see the results, we did it for fun and for the show that was sure to accompany it; the point was to see how you'd react to reading that you were still married."

"Alright, enough!" Jack hollered. Sue turned and watched him, frowning. "Is this what you're all waiting to see?" he asked. He threw the files on his desk and turned to Sue. Then, for a brief passionate moment, he kissed her, zealously, deeply, and very quickly. Less than three seconds later, he removed his lips from hers and was about to look at everyone, but he caught a glimpse of her slowly opening eyes. Their warmth caught his and, before either could question it, he leaned back in and kissed her again, inexplicably drawn to her warm lips.

The kiss was deep and passionate, but not overly so. She whimpered a little at first, but it faded while Jack's hands lifted to cup her cheeks delicately. With tentative movements, she slowly slipped her hands up his chest and, when they found his shoulders, circled his neck and locked around it, her fingers toying with short tendrils. Several seconds later, they pulled sharply apart when Jack heard the applause from behind him. Everyone was on their feet, clapping and smiling proudly. Even Garret wandered into the room and clapped with everyone else.

"I…"

"Um…"

Both Jack and Sue were positively flabbergasted by their sudden impulsiveness and they tried to apologize for their actions, but Garret held up his hand and moved towards them. With a small smile, he regarded them for a moment before throwing his hands up.

"Do I make changes to your hard copy files or your electronic files?" he asked. With a small smile hanging from the corner of Jack's mouth, Sue felt her insides flutter. Jack's grin spread and spread and, with a small nod to Garret, he pulled Sue back in for another passionate kiss.

-Fin-


End file.
